Apple Hires High-Profile Senior Waymo Engineer for Self-Driving Car Project

Apple has hired Jaime Waydo, an autonomous vehicle expert who previously worked as a senior engineer at Google’s Waymo, reports The Information. An Apple spokesperson confirmed the hiring, but declined to provide details on what she would be working on.

Waydo, who served as head of systems engineering at Waymo, was “instrumental,” according to former colleagues that spoke to The Information. She was in charge of verifying the safety of Waymo’s prototypes and provided input on when it was safe enough to launch on-the-road tests in Phoenix in 2016.

Prior to working at Waymo, Waydo was a senior engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory for more than a decade, where she helped develop a rover vehicle that has driven on Mars.

The Information speculates that Apple’s hiring of Waydo could indicate that it is making progress towards launching a prototype vehicle, but the report also says that the car project continues to suffer from a “lack of communication among teams.”

Apple originally had ambitious self-driving vehicle plans that included a full autonomous vehicle, but those plans were scaled back and Apple shifted focus to autonomous driving software. Apple has been testing Lexus vehicles equipped with its autonomous driving software since April 2017.

In May, Apple signed a deal with Volkswagen to use Volkswagen vans for its on-campus shuttle program called “PAIL,” which is designed to transport employees around its various campuses and office buildings in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Volkswagens will be autonomous, powered by Apple’s self-driving software.

Apple’s self-driving shuttle program has been described as behind schedule and “consuming nearly all of the car team’s attention,” with the company having no clear idea of what it will do with the autonomous driving project beyond the shuttle efforts.

Related Roundup: Apple Car
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AT&T Launches Father’s Day ‘Buy One, Get One’ iPhone X Deal

AT&T has launched a new Father’s Day deal for the next few days, offering new and existing customers who purchase an iPhone X as an upgrade or a new line a second iPhone X at no additional cost as long as it’s for a new line.

Customers will need to finance both iPhone X devices via AT&T Next 30 or AT&T Next Every Year, but within three billing cycles they will begin receiving bill credits totaling up to $999.99 spread out over 30 months. Tax on the full cost of both phones is due at the time of purchase, and the deal runs through June 19.

AT&T’s product pages aren’t yet reflecting the full $999.99 promo for the iPhone X, but the deal is live and will be applied at the end of the checkout process.

AT&T has been offering a similar BOGO deal on the iPhone 8 as well as a $0 iPhone SE offer, and those deals continue to be valid for a limited time.

On the internet and TV service side, AT&T is also continuing to offer Visa Reward Cards with the purchase of new services: $50 for internet, $200 for DirecTV, or $250 for a bundle of both. Full offer details are on AT&T’s site.

And as always, head over to our Deals Roundup for all of the latest sales and bargains.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with AT&T. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a payment which helps us keep the site running.

Related Roundup: Apple DealsTag: AT&T
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Everything we know about the Sony Xperia XZ3

Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

The Xperia XZ2 Premium is fresh out of Sony’s design pits, and it only seems like yesterday that the Sony Xperia XZ2 and XZ2 Compact were new and gleaming, but that isn’t stopping rumors about an upcoming Xperia XZ3 from knocking on our door.

As you might expect, details about this phone are extremely scarce at the moment, and we expect more and more details to come trickling in as we get closer to a possible release date. For now, here’s everything we know about the Sony Xperia XZ3.

Design

It’s safe to say that Sony will likely be sticking to its new “Ambient Flow” design with the Xperia XZ3, so expect to see a display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, and slimmer bezels along the sides of the phone. At least part of that seems to be the case in leaked imagery of what we assume is the Xperia XZ3.

Sony Xperia XZ3 Real Life Images Leak, Dual Cameras In Tow https://t.co/zYqPouMLLj pic.twitter.com/T2T4VCuo09

— Android Headlines (@Androidheadline) June 13, 2018

The front of the phone showcases the same chunky (for 2018 design) chin and forehead we’ve seen in the Xperia XZ2 range, so anyone hoping Sony would go for a more bezel-free look could be disappointed. A single front-facing camera is in evidence too, and some are postulating that the chunkier top and bottom of the phone could end up with front-facing stereo speakers, like the XZ2.

Around the back of the phone, the dual-lens setup is extremely obvious and very similar to the setup on the XZ2 Premium. The lack of a border around the lenses sets it apart from the XZ2 Premium though, so it’s fairly safe to assume this isn’t just that same phone in different trousers.

The gleam on the camera and the reflected light leads us to assume that the phone will come with a glass back — though that’s just supposition for the moment. It seems like a safe bet though, since the XZ2 was a glass and metal sandwich.

Specs

We may have also had something of a snapshot into the planned specifications for the Xperia XZ3, thanks to a leaked spec sheet.

Credit: Sumahoinfo

It’s always worth taking spec sheets with a grain of salt since a list of specifications is rather easy to fake. In this case, it seems fairly close to what we’d expect from the XZ3. The Snapdragon 845 is in attendance, as expected of a 2018 flagship phone, as is 6GB of RAM, the choice between 64GB and 128GB of storage, and support for MicroSD cards up to 400GB. The battery is also larger than the XZ2, but not by much.

One of the other key elements to note here is the 2160 x 1080 resolution. Sony has generally restricted 4K resolutions to its XZ Premium line, and this looks set to continue with the XZ3, which will apparently stick with the same Full HD resolution as the Xperia XZ2. It’s also the same sized 5.7-inch screen.

That’s everything we know about the Sony Xperia XZ3 for now — but stay tuned for more as we hear it.

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Developers can now take Google App Maker out for a test drive

About 18 months ago, Google introduced us to App Maker, a tool that as its name suggests, allows you to build and deploy apps (specifically of the business variety) on the web. Over the last year and a half, Google hasn’t made much of a hubbub around the tool and it has remained in private preview mode. But that all changed on June 14 when Google announced that App Maker had been made generally available to all developers who want to take this tool for a test drive.

“Today, we’re making App Maker generally available to help you rethink how your teams operate,” Google noted in a blog post. “App Maker is G Suite’s low-code application development environment that makes it easy for teams to build custom apps to speed up workflows and make processes better.”

In order to access App Maker, you need a G Suite Business or Enterprise subscription, or a G Suite for Education edition. But once you’ve that, you don’t need much else. The beauty of App Maker is that it doesn’t require its users to have much — or any — coding experience. Rather, they can rely upon data that already exists in G Suite, Google’s Cloud SQL database, or other databases that supports JDBC or feature a REST API.

In essence, App Maker offers a low-code app development environment that allows users to create new apps using a drag-and-drop interface. Once the database is set up, all you need to do is select a template and begin designing an app to improve your workflow. Best of all, it would appear that design is responsive, which is to say that the finished apps should work on both desktop and mobile.

App Maker allows access to a total of 40 Google Services and focuses mostly on Google products (rather than offering built-in integrations with third-party offerings like Salesforce). However, now that App Maker is being made widely available, this could change in order to make the tool more broadly useful.

“App Maker was created to enable your line-of-business teams to build apps for the jobs these bigger apps don’t tackle,” Google noted. “With App Maker, you can revamp company processes like requesting purchase orders or filing and resolving help desk tickets, as if you designed and built the processes yourself.”

You can learn how to get started with documentation and this codelab.

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Mount this head-up display to your helmet and project any app from your phone

When you’re out on two wheels, the last thing you need is distraction. Your bike is smaller and harder to see than a car and you’re not surrounded by a steel cage. You put yourself at risk everytime you take your eyes off the rode, whether you’re looking down to check your speed or checking over your shoulder. Smart helmets with integrated rear-view cameras and head-up displays aim to mitigate this, but what if you are attached to your current headgear? The Hudway Sight attaches to any helmet and uses a head-up display to augment your ride with a variety of aids and conveniences.

The Hudway Sight comes in two parts: A lens you mount to your helmet in front of your eyes and a “brain” that mounts to the back of your helmet that transmits information to the lens.

A tiny projector — part of the lens assembly — takes the information it receives and projects it onto the lens. The brightness automatically adjusts to environmental conditions thanks to an ambient light sensor.

The brain has a transmitter that receives information wirelessly from your smartphone and relays it to the lens, which uses waveguide optics to allow for augmented reality integration and brighter, clearer graphics. The attached battery gives the kit up to eight hours of operation.

Your phone is the real brains behind everything, serving as the control panel for navigation apps, traffic alerts, and vehicle data including speed and distance. You can also listen to your tunes and send and receive messages and calls — the device works with Bluetooth headsets — but this itself could prove a distraction, so you have to exercise caution. Virtually any app can be projected onto the Hudway Sight’s lens.

“We believe that waveguide technology has a brilliant future and, when truly adapted to mass market, will create a revolution in things and how we interact with them,” Hudway co-founder Ivan Klabukov said in a statement. “Our device is low-cost and its ease of use allows two-wheel drivers to experience the kind of augmented reality they see in sci-fi movies.”

Hudway teamed up with DigiLens, the Silicon Valley, California-based company revolutionizing AR displays through waveguide optics, and display manufacturer Young Optics.

“After very significant R&D efforts, we’ve created a waveguide display technology that is truly unrivaled with the ability to sharply see the digital information even on the brightest sunny day,” DigiLens CEO Chris Pickett said. “In the near future, we believe that all major helmet makers will integrate AR waveguide displays to make the riding experience better and safer.”

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Mount this head-up display to your helmet and project any app from your phone

When you’re out on two wheels, the last thing you need is distraction. Your bike is smaller and harder to see than a car and you’re not surrounded by a steel cage. You put yourself at risk everytime you take your eyes off the rode, whether you’re looking down to check your speed or checking over your shoulder. Smart helmets with integrated rear-view cameras and head-up displays aim to mitigate this, but what if you are attached to your current headgear? The Hudway Sight attaches to any helmet and uses a head-up display to augment your ride with a variety of aids and conveniences.

The Hudway Sight comes in two parts: A lens you mount to your helmet in front of your eyes and a “brain” that mounts to the back of your helmet that transmits information to the lens.

A tiny projector — part of the lens assembly — takes the information it receives and projects it onto the lens. The brightness automatically adjusts to environmental conditions thanks to an ambient light sensor.

The brain has a transmitter that receives information wirelessly from your smartphone and relays it to the lens, which uses waveguide optics to allow for augmented reality integration and brighter, clearer graphics. The attached battery gives the kit up to eight hours of operation.

Your phone is the real brains behind everything, serving as the control panel for navigation apps, traffic alerts, and vehicle data including speed and distance. You can also listen to your tunes and send and receive messages and calls — the device works with Bluetooth headsets — but this itself could prove a distraction, so you have to exercise caution. Virtually any app can be projected onto the Hudway Sight’s lens.

“We believe that waveguide technology has a brilliant future and, when truly adapted to mass market, will create a revolution in things and how we interact with them,” Hudway co-founder Ivan Klabukov said in a statement. “Our device is low-cost and its ease of use allows two-wheel drivers to experience the kind of augmented reality they see in sci-fi movies.”

Hudway teamed up with DigiLens, the Silicon Valley, California-based company revolutionizing AR displays through waveguide optics, and display manufacturer Young Optics.

“After very significant R&D efforts, we’ve created a waveguide display technology that is truly unrivaled with the ability to sharply see the digital information even on the brightest sunny day,” DigiLens CEO Chris Pickett said. “In the near future, we believe that all major helmet makers will integrate AR waveguide displays to make the riding experience better and safer.”

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• Your Bitmoji sticker can now include a friend with Friendmojis for iOS
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The Asus Chromebox 2 mini PC is down to its lowest price

Get online fast.

The Asus Chromebox2-G096U mini PC is down to $197.24 on Amazon. This mini PC has been selling as high as $220 recently and regularly sells around $210. The drop to $197 is the lowest we’ve ever seen and beats out previous deals by at least a few bucks. These PCs are already priced to be as inexpensive as possible, so it’s rare for them to drop at all and any sale is a good one.

The Chromebox continues to be one of the only ways to get the Chrome OS on a desktop. If you don’t want a Chromebook laptop (or want to make use of a monitor you already have) but like having easy access to the Google ecosystem, this might be the way to go for you. The Chromebox 2 is powered by an Intel Celeron 3215U processor, 4GB RAM, and a 16GB M.2 SSD. Unlike other mini PCs, like the Intel NUC, this one is ready right out of the box as long as you have the peripherals (keyboard, mouse, monitor) to connect to it. But also unlike those other PCs, the Chromebox cannot be expanded much. Users give it 4.1 stars based on 1,226 reviews.

See on Amazon

Android Central’s Best of E3 2018 Awards!

Sony’s lineup continues to impress, and the next year looks stuffed full of great things to play.

There are no trade shows quite like E3 in the world today. It’s a place where fans and press alike get the opportunity to play brand new games long before they are announced, as well as enjoy an in-depth look into what the big game companies have planned for the next year and change. This event is historically seen as a fight between Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony to see which company can wow players with the best presentation, and while it’s clear Sony is ending E3 with more than a few unanswered questions regarding crossplay experiences the list of upcoming games was nothing short of a spectacle.

Here’s a look at what we thought were the best things to come from E3 2018 for PlayStation 4 fans!

Kingdom Hearts 3

This game has been nearly 15 years in the making, and after everything we’ve seen leading up to E3, the hype is well-deserved. Square Enix and Disney have once again come together to bring us a magical game that brings all your favorite Disney and Pixar characters, worlds, and stories under one roof.

Kingdom Hearts 3 will feature iconic characters from franchises like Frozen, Toy Story, The Lion King, Pirates of the Caribbean, Monsters Inc, Wreck-It Ralph, and a lot more. It also features a main cast consisting of Disney staples like Goofy, Donald Duck, and, of course, Mickey Mouse. They’re all rolling with a young boy named Sora to try and drive an evil force known as the Darkness from their world.

You’ll help characters fight back against the malevolent forces at work with some unique and flashy abilities at your disposal. You haven’t seen the proper dispelling of evil until you’ve seen an enemy get rocked by the tag team of Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

If we know Square Enix, we know they’re going to make sure they get everything about this game right, and there’s nothing we’ve seen to date that threatens those expectations.

Kingdom Hearts 3: Everything you need to know!

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Anyone who has played a Spider-Man game, mainly when Activision still made them, will know just how badly we’ve needed this. Insomniac’s take on the franchise is the most ambitious yet, and it’s looking like the game we’ve always wanted.

Exclusive to PlayStation 4, Marvel’s Spider-Man aims to get all things Peter Parker right, whether that’s slinging and swinging with your spider webs, punching cheesy villains in the face (Rhino, Vulture, Scorpio, Martin Li, Taskmaster, and Mr. Negative, just to name a few), or romancing the lovely Mary Jane Watson. You’ll also be collecting all of the cool looking Spider-Man suits you’ve dreamed about wearing as a kid, as well as tapping into your photogenic side with a deep photo mode that the Daily Bugle would love to get their hands on.

Insomniac’s knack for fluid motion and combat certainly shines through here, and a fully original story with tons of classic Spidey villains to fight makes this one a must-have.

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Everything you need to know!

The Last of Us Part II

The sequel to 2013’s Game of the Year is on its way. The Last of Us Part II reintroduces us to series mainstays Joel and Ellie, only this time you’re playing as the cute little girl who’s not so cute and little anymore. (And Joel is way over the hill by now, too.)

It’s five full years after the events of the original game which saw the conclusion to a story about a deadly viral outbreak that turned everyone around you into cannibalistic freaks. This time, you’ll follow a more mature Ellie who has developed a bit of a mean streak and, judging by the new gameplay shown off at E3 2018, some insane combat skills. We don’t know who she’s been training with all this time, but not even Joel could do some of the things she was doing in that trailer.

Last Of Us Part II is much darker than the original, and we’re not talking about your brightness levels. Characters are gruesome, cruel, and ruthless. They’ll cut your gut open and eat your innards if they could get their hands on you. As Ellie, you just can’t let them, and she’ll have all the tools she needs to make sure of that.

Expect Last of Us Part II to offer a crafty blend of riveting storytelling, lush visuals, and insanely fun gameplay. The Last of Us Part II is looking gorgeous as ever, and the level of polish we’ve seen this early on is a true testament to Naughty Dog’s unmatchable development prowess.

The Last of Us Part II: Everything you need to know!

Beat Saber

Rock Band meets Star Wars. Sound like a fun time to you? If you aren’t sure, we’re here to tell you that it’s an extremely fun time. You’ll get a workout, jam out to some tunes, and feel like an utter boss as you cut away at seemingly endless streams of music boxes.

Beat Saber is already available for PC-based VR systems, and thanks to Sony’s heavy focus on VR gaming it’ll also soon be on its way to the PlayStation VR. If you didn’t already find something to get you into VR, we’d bet this is it.

Beat Saber: Everything you need to know

The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit

Sometimes we need a break from all the guns, swords, and blood. That’s why we instantly fell in love with The Awesome Adventures of Captain Spirit. The game is a self-contained adventure set within the Life is Strange universe. It’s actually supposed to be a teaser, of sorts, for Life is Strange 2, with the game said to house secrets and clues regarding the upcoming sequel.

You play as Chris, a 10-year-old boy who has dreams of being a superhero. Something, erm, strange happens and he gets a chance to live out his dreams.

Most exciting of all, perhaps, is that the game is 100% free. There are no extra episodes to purchase after the first one or any of those shenanigans. The decisions you make in Captain Spirit will have implications for Life is Strange 2, so that’s cool. This makes it sound more like an advertising tool than anything, but it’s the exact kind of advertising we love. And you won’t have long to wait for your chance to play it as the game will launch June 26th.

What was your favorite game at E3 2018?

There were tons of great PS4 games to behold at E3 2018. We haven’t even scratched the surface, with games like Ghosts of Tsushima, Control, Fallout 76, and more being shown that couldn’t mention here. Take a look at all the PS4 games that were announced or shown at E3 2018 and let us know which ones you’ll be picking up once they finally arrive.

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New standard finalized that allows 5G to be independently deployed

There’s still work to do, but we’re making progress.

It’s often hard to believe we’re getting closer and closer to a 5G reality, but with so much work being done on all fronts, that’s a future we’re rapidly approaching. Most recently, the 3GPP announced that it’d officially completed the Standalone standard for 5G.

This new standard will allow for independent deployment of 5G technologies, and it’s an essential part in rolling it out to the masses over the coming months and years.

Per Balázs Bertényi, 3GPP TSG RAN Chairman:

The freeze of Standalone 5G NR radio specifications represents a major milestone in the quest of the wireless industry towards realizing the holistic 5G vision. 5G NR Standalone systems not only dramatically increase the mobile broadband speeds and capacity, but also open the door for new industries beyond telecommunications that are looking to revolutionize their ecosystem through 5G.

Last December, 3GPP previously finalized the Non-Standalone standard that uses existing LTE technology to eventually spread 5G across the nation.

Current signs are pointing towards a mass 5G rollout beginning next year, while some carriers like AT&T are promising to start testing the new network by the end of this year.

What are you looking forward to the most about 5G?

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Six Fitbit employees have been charged with stealing Jawbone trade secrets

Jawbone initially sued Fitbit over the stolen data in 2015.

Fitbit, one of the world’s largest fitness-tracking/wearable companies, has found itself in hot water over a dispute that first reared its head in 2015. On June 14, six current and former employees from the company were charged with stealing trade secrets from Jawbone and giving them to Fitbit.

The six employees in question previously worked at Jawbone before moving to Fitbit, and while doing so, reportedly took more than 300,000 confidential files with them. Jawbone was a former competitor of Fitbit’s, but the company went out of business in July 2017 and is still in the liquidation process.

Jawbone initially sued Fitbit for the actions of these employees in 2015, but at that time, the suit was ruled in Fitbit’s favor. A while later in December of last year, Fitbit and Jawbone decided to settle.

In a statement released to The Verge, Fitbit said:

In a trade secret misappropriation case brought by Jawbone in the International Trade Commission in 2016 that involved these same individuals, a federal administrative law judge during a nine-day trial on the merits found that no Jawbone trade secrets were misappropriated or used in any Fitbit product, feature or technology.

It remains to be seen if the six employees will be convicted of these charges, but if they are, each could face as much as 10 years in prison.

What’s your take on all this?

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